The old saying used to be that you knew you were getting old when the Police looked younger than you. As it is rare to see a member of the constabulary these days, this is no longer such a good judge of one’s age. Maybe the modern alternative is to listen to the cricket commentators.
Watching Fox Sports coverage of the Australia v India series here in Australia a new breed of commentary team are now in the chair. The familiar voices of yesteryear have gone. Yet along with those voices going, so too has a vital part of cricket commentary, which is history.
Most of the Fox Sports commentary team are within a certain age range. In fact six of the team of ex players are aged between 44 and 53 years of age. Only Kerry O’Keefe and Allan Border are outside of that age range at the top end, and the excellent Isa Guha the only one below. Yet despite her youth her knowledge of cricket history is far superior to many of her male counterparts.
When it comes to cricket it is important that those discussing the game have a knowledge of games and players from the past, and not just statistics. As statistics never tell the full story. The way to engage is to be able to talk of the feats of players from yesteryear, and events from games of a bygone era.
With India so dominant in the series the question was posed as to whether this was the best Indian bowling attack to tour Australia. Quick as a flash two of the commentary team stated without any hesitation that it was. One can only assume that this is based on the current dominance in the series. Yet there is far more to that than meets the eye.
As Shane Warne has pointed out in a newspaper column, as well as in commentary, the Australian bowling attack is not as potent as people have made it out to be. Or maybe India’s batting is far better than everyone thought? Certainly the Indian batsmen, and in particular Cheteshwar Pujara have been superb. They have shown a willingness to occupy the crease, good technique, great concentration, but most important of all they watch the ball.
Sure, the Australian bowlers have not tested them as much as they should have due to the line and length that they have bowled, but credit must go to the batsmen who have not been impatient, and thrown their wickets away. They have made Australia earn every wicket.
By mounting good first innings scores and not letting the Australian bowlers dominant the Indian batsmen have given their bowlers the opportunity to be more aggressive.
India’s bowlers have toiled hard for their team and they have been backed up strong Indian fielding, an area that had for many years let India down, especially on tours. By not having their bowlers skittling Indian out in the First Innings, Australia’s batsmen are immediately under pressure. As a bowler there is nothing better than a batsman under pressure. India has relished that position and pushed home their advantage. But is this bowling attack really the best to ever tour Australia?
Of course such a question comes down to opinion, but in fairness to those from the past, the bowlers that India brought to Australia in 1985/86 were far from mugs. Shival Yadav topped the averages that tour and was followed by Ravi Shastri and a certain all rounder called Kapil Dev, who was at one stage the World’s leading wicket-taker. For the record all three Test matches finished in draws, so this Indian team almost became the first to win a series in Australia.
If we go back a further ten years to the 1977/78 Indian tour of Australia, which was another keenly fought series. One of the greatest Indian bowlers of all time, Bishen Bedi was the leading wicket taker in the series with 31 wickets. His spin partner, leg break bowler Chandresaker took 28 wickets in the series.
Backing up these two were Karsan Ghavri, Madan Lal, Mohinder Amarnath and another talented spin bowler Erapalli Prasanna.
This series saw all Test Matches end with one side victorious, but it was Australia that won the series 3-2.
Such are the perils of selecting a team of experts who have only recently retired. That is why a smattering of older players is always good, to give the coverage perspective. Although the key is that all know their history.
This may or may not go down as the best bowling attack to visit Australia. This writer is not so sure it will. Yet this team will go down in history, not just for winning a series in Australia for the first time, but for being the most balanced Indian side. Every player has done their job within the side. They have batted, bowled and fielded well. What is more they have exposed Australia’s batting weaknesses, and how reliant the team was on Warner and Smith. They have snuffed out an attack many believed was the most potent in the world. They are an excellent cricket team, one that has played great cricket and thoroughly deserved their success.
They have also made Test Cricket enjoyable again. Even if they have made this one fan feel decidedly older than before, remembering bowlers of times gone by!
